


My every road leads to you

by SpicySnowflake



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: F/M, my interpretation of what happens next, reader as Dib and Gaz's mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27382960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicySnowflake/pseuds/SpicySnowflake
Summary: This is my interpretation of what happens after dinosaurus_maj's fic "What's the use of feeling (blue)?"Red has become Tallest and she eventually married and had two children. They eventually accept that neither of them would see one another ever again.Or course, as fate would have it, Red's rash decision of humouring Zim leads to the defective landing on the very planet Red was forced to leave behind.
Relationships: Almighty Tallest Red (Invader Zim)/Original Character(s), Almighty Tallest Red/Reader, Professor Membrane/Original Character(s), Professor Membrane/Reader
Comments: 14
Kudos: 33





	My every road leads to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dinosaurus_maj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaurus_maj/gifts).
  * Inspired by [What's the use of feeling (blue)?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26410777) by [dinosaurus_maj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dinosaurus_maj/pseuds/dinosaurus_maj). 



> I got permission from dinosaurus_maj to write this! I hope you like it ^^
> 
> Also, if you recognize the title, please tell me, I'd like to know if others got it :D

The other irken soldiers around him were panicking over having lost another Tallest so soon and right in front of their eyes. Even Purple, who he’d always known to be cold-hearted, was outwardly showing distress over the fallen Tallest. Red, on the other hand, kept his cool and simply waited for the Control Brains to take over and announce the next Tallest. 

When Red arrived at Irk only for Tallest Spork to get eaten by some energy consuming blob, he couldn’t find it in himself to feel bad about his now former Tallest’s demise. He could only feel annoyance at having wasted his time for nothing. He had to leave Earth, only for the guy who he had to leave for in the first place to suddenly die before the extremely tedious formality could even really begin. He would never admit it, but a part of him also felt bitter satisfaction that the guy who basically forced him to leave his human was gone. 

He only hoped that he could convince the next Tallest to let him continue his mission.

Finally, the Control Brains spoke up and all the irkens settled down to listen. Then they spoke the names of the current Tallests. Purple turned to him with a big smile and shining purple eyes, excited to become co-Tallests with his best friend. Red could only feel dejected at what should have been the greatest honor for an irken. 

He would never be able to see her again.

\----

“...and then he was kicked in the face and flew all the way back until he hit a tree!” She smiled brightly as she watched her 3 year old son giggle at her story, her 2 year old daughter already sleeping soundly beside him. “He was alright though; he’s very strong and resilient.”

“Yeah, cause he’s an alien!” her adorable son exclaimed, waving his hands in the air. 

She chuckled. “Exactly.” She kissed her son’s forehead. “Goodnight, Dib. Sleep well.”

She kissed her sleeping daughter’s forehead as well, and quietly left her children’s bedroom. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she was faced with her husband frowning at her. Internally she sighed, knowing what was coming next. 

“You really shouldn’t be filling their minds with such nonsense. They’re young and impressionable.”

Forcing back a groan, she gave him what she hoped was a convincingly reassuring smile “Honey. It's a story, and they’re children. It's perfectly normal to tell children fantastical stories. Healthy, even.”

“Sometimes, I wonder if you yourself believe them to be fiction. I can’t help but worry that you believe the stories you tell are real. It’s not scientifically possible.”

“...I know, honey,” was all she could say. She couldn’t tell him the truth, he would never believe her. Those stories were real. She lived them. A long, long time ago. Back when her favourite colour still lived on Earth.

Sometimes she wondered how and why she ended up marrying a man who would never believe her. She could never share her deepest beliefs and desires with her husband; but then again, she could never share the knowledge she knew to be true with anyone. No human anyway, lest she be deemed insane. So she settled with telling them to her children as bedtime stories. 

“Will you join me tonight?” she asked her husband, softly and sweetly.

The man, still donned in his lab coat, shook his head. “Not right now, I’m afraid. I still have a lot of work to do. I’ll join you as soon as I can.” 

He leaned down and kissed her. It was quick, but sweet. She gave him a soft smile in return. “Alright,” she murmured, and headed towards their shared bedroom. 

Even after having two children together, she still didn’t know if she truly loved the man. However, she could definitely say she cared about him. Perhaps the reason she married him was because deep within her heart, she knew that what she felt for him was the closest she could feel to love towards a human man. 

He was incredibly brilliant and a good man who genuinely wanted to do what he could for Earth. He could also be sweet once he got past his zeal for ‘REAL SCIENCE’ and actually took the time to communicate with others instead of talking at them. She met him at their university, while studying as a science major. 

Back then, she still held onto the hope of seeing her Red once again. She thought perhaps she could have built her own spaceship and found her best friend herself. She already knew more about space ships and how to build one than most humans (or possibly more than any human), considering how much Red had talked and showed her about them. 

_Surely_ , she once thought, _if I just learned more about science and space travel on Earth, I’d be able to figure out how to build my own_. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for her to realize that wasn’t the case at all. The minimal knowledge she managed to grasp from her alien friend already told her that she wouldn’t be able to build a spaceship sufficient enough for space travel with the earth materials available to her. 

Not long after that realization was when she finally took notice of her confidently eccentric (or was it eccentricly confident) and brilliant classmate. Somehow, they had been able to get along wonderfully. They became fast friends. It wasn’t long before he asked her on a date. She found his uncharacteristic awkwardness to be endearing. 

It wasn’t a bad life. It was the best she could hope for when she finally came to accept that Red was never coming back.

\---

Red hadn’t stopped pacing since hearing from Zim. It was entirely his fault. He shouldn’t have sent him in that direction. _How was I supposed to know that the destructive runt would somehow find that one planet in that boundless expanse of ‘unexplored irken space’?!_

The one consolation he had when he became Tallest along with his best (irken) friend Purple, and thus couldn’t come back to his mission, was that no other irken or being in the known universe knew of the existence of Earth. It was safe. She was safe. 

Earth wasn’t safe anymore, and it was his own damn fault for humouring the defective Invader-wannabe! He would end up destroying the whole solar system before he could even invade it! And even if he could manage to invade it properly somehow…

“Will you quit pacing already? You’re giving me a headache,” his co-Tallest complained.

“Well I feel like my spooch is about to… explode but on the inside!” Red exclaimed, hands grabbing onto his antennae in anxious frustration.

“You mean implode.” Purple corrected, then sighed. “Calm down. I still don’t understand why you care so much. Sure, the human helped you, and she was pretty funny, but she’s an inferior life form. You know that right? She’s even more inferior than the creatures of the planets we’ve already conquered and destroyed.”

Red didn’t know how to answer that. Or at least, he didn’t know how to answer him in a way that wouldn’t condemn him somehow in his friend’s eyes. So instead, he gave Purple a hasty goodbye and left the room to go to his private quarters. 

Once inside and alone, he dug through his closet until he got his two fingered hands on a jumper. The fabric was worn, but still in relatively good condition, showing that, although it was old, it had been well taken care of. Treasured. Red buried his face in it, his antennae automatically latching onto the fabric, trying to pick up a scent he knew was already long gone. Before he even left Earth. 

Red took off his Tallest armour and gently put on the jumper. It was the most comfortable thing he owned, even though it was made of inferior fabric. He didn’t know if it was because he liked the feel of the different fabric on his skin or because it belonged to _her_ , but either way, wearing it comforted him. 

Zim contacted them frequently, almost daily, reporting on some insane scheme or inane (and often inaccurate and stupid) observations of Earth and its inhabitants. They gave Red a lot of conflicting feelings. On one hand, the constant reports in and of themselves were very annoying and also made it so Red was never able to keep the fact that Zim was on Earth out of his mind. On the other hand, Zim’s bizarre observations on Earth and humans were hilarious most of the time, and messing with him was fun. There were also times when Zim’s observations were surprisingly not ridiculous, and those made Red nostalgic. But Zim’s overly destructive ideas made him sick with worry, and even more relieved when they inevitably failed. 

He couldn’t let this go on. The defect clearly did not understand what an invader’s job actually entailed. Sooner or later, Zim would end up destroying Earth, whether it be on purpose or accidentally. Red needed to make a choice, and he needed to make a good one. 

It would be so much easier if he could ask help from Purple. He was the better strategist. He was the one who was able to think of scenarios, whether they be likely or unlikely, and find ways to twist them to his liking. Purple wouldn’t help him with this though. Purple didn’t care. Purple didn’t understand why Red cared. He wasn’t good with words, but he doubted he would have been able to explain it even if he was. So Red never tried. 

Red wasn’t good with planning ahead, but he was good at reacting to things as they came. He was also someone who knew what he wanted, and was selfish enough to pursue them regardless of reason or consequence. 

\----

Dib had managed to sneak into Zim’s base again with his invisible suit and was currently crouching on top of what he believed to be a wire. A wire that was thicker than he was wide. He had found out that those things connected to many parts of Zim’s base, and just following one would lead him to all sorts of rooms he had never seen before. The one he had followed just so happened to lead to what Dib believed was Zim’s main base of operations. It was a very big and spacious room filled with all sorts of irken technology, but the most notable thing was the gigantic screen that could be seen throughout the whole room.

Suddenly, loud beeping echoed throughout the whole room (and all of Zim’s base), startling Dib so much he nearly fell off. Luckily, he had fast reflexes and was able to latch onto the wire and steady himself. Someone was calling Zim, and from the way Zim came running frantically and excitedly into the room, it was someone important. His Tallests most likely. Dib narrowed his eyes and hyperfocused on Zim and the screen. 

Zim pressed a button and the image of the Tallest appeared on the screen. It was the Red one. 

“Greetings My Tallest! What a pleasant surprise! I was just about to call you myse–”

“Zim, I’m gonna cut to the chase, I need you to do something for me,” the Tallest cut him off with a commanding and serious tone, looking down at the other irken through the screen with hard narrowed eyes. 

“Of course, My Tallest! My latest plan will surely–”

“Shut up about your stupid plan!” the Tallest yelled, cutting Zim off again. This time, Zim stayed quiet, looking humbled as he stared at his ruler with wide eyes. The Tallest took a deep breath, then stood tall and commandeering as he looked at Zim with cold eyes, glaring down at him. “I need you to do something for me, and you will listen and not interrupt me until I’m done. Understood?” 

Zim gave him a stiff nod.

“First of all, you will stop whatever plan you’ve got to invade Earth. I don’t care how smart-and-good it is or whatever, you will stop it. In fact, just… don’t invade it at all.” 

Zim opened his mouth to protest.

“I SAID DON’T INTERRUPT!” 

Zim’s mouth snapped shut, his antennae wilting.

“Now I want you to find someone. UNHARMED. I want you to find her and…”

Dib listened with rapt attention at the intergalactic video call. He found the whole conversation to be very intriguing. And important. The fact that Zim’s leader was telling him not to invade was good news. It made Dib suspicious. There was the matter of the Tallest wanting to meet with someone too, someone important from the sound of it. The fact that Zim was specifically instructed not to harm this person, or alien, or whatever she was, must mean something. Could she be another–

“WHAT?!” Dib couldn’t stop himself from shouting as soon as he heard the name leave the Tallest’s mouth, and suddenly he found himself falling. The shock of hearing that name completely rattled him to the point that he completely forgot about his precarious position and the small movement had cost him. 

Dib couldn’t care less. He couldn’t find it in himself to care that he’d been exposed and that both Zim and his Tallest now had their freaky eyes on him. That red Tallest said his MOTHER’S NAME! 

The mother who he hadn’t seen in years! Who had been forced out of his life with no way to contact each other because his father was a terrible person who pulled a bunch of strings during the divorce to make it so she legally couldn’t. Dib still didn’t forgive him for that. He would have left with his mother if he could.

Dib pointed an accusing finger at the alien behind the enormous screen “How the hell do you know her?!” he glared at the alien menace, baring his teeth as he stomped closer to the screen “What do you want from my mom?!” 

The alien behind the screen’s red eyes looked at him in shock “She’s… your mother?” 

Then he started laughing. Dib’s scowl deepened and opened his mouth to say something scathing but the Tallest beat him to it.

“Oh man, and here I thought Zim was just pathetic, what with a kid being able to stop him so easily!” he completely ignored Zim’s indignant protest as he focused his eyes on Dib, his eyes filled with mirth and… fondness? “But if you’re her kid, I should maybe give Zim a little more credit. Listen kid, uh, what’s your name?”

“Uh, um, Dib. Dib Membrane.” he replied awkwardly. He was so bewildered by the turn of events and what was being said to him that it was all he could think to do. Zim was just standing there staring at one of his leaders, having no idea what was even going on anymore. 

“Dib.” the Tallest said slowly, giving a small nod. “Nice to meet you. I’m Red. Your mother and I were friends.”

Dib and Zim’s jaws simultaneously dropped.


End file.
